KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is committed to paying a dividend of RM40 billion to the government this year, its president and chief executive officer Tengku Tan Sri Muhammad Taufik said.

The national oil and gas company has the capacity to pay this amount, although the current crude oil prices were expected to be lower than those recorded last year, he added.

Tengku Muhammad Taufik said the RM40 billion was higher than the initial sum of RM35 billion.

"We are in a good position. We have included (RM40 billion) in the agreed-upon scheduled payment," he said, when commenting on Petronas' dividend commitment amid a challenging environment this year.

Tengku Muhammad Taufik disclosed this during a briefing with the media ahead of Petronas' announcement of its first quarter results today.

Market analysts described the RM40 billion dividend as reasonable.

Petronas was capable of paying it despite the significant decline in crude oil prices.

This was due to its steady cash flow operations, which will support the national oil and gas company in fulfilling its commitment without affecting its operations.

In 2022, Petronas paid dividends totalling RM50 billion, including an additional dividend of RM25 billion.

This was after the company recorded its largest net profit in history, amounting to RM101.6 billion for the year ended Dec 31, 2022, while group revenue also hit an all-time high of RM375.3 billion.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2023/06/917539/petronas-pay-rm40bil-dividend-government